Journal Your Journey - E39

This solo episode to speaks directly to anyone serving in a season they did not choose. It names the tension of being faithful and frustrated at the same time, then reframes journaling as a tool for tracking God’s work, spotting patterns, and keeping perspective.Key topicsYou have permission to admit disappointment instead of pretending serving second never hurts.You can be faithful and frustrated at the same time, and still serve with excellence.Challenge: Serve anyway.Journaling helps you capture the season before you understand it, not after.He reflects on journals dating back to 1999 and explains how old entries now reveal growth, prayers answered, and seasons that only made sense later.He says journaling shows four things clearly: patterns, progress, providence, and perspective.He uses personal examples, including marriage, parenting, career transitions, and the launch of the Serving Second Podcast, to show how painful seasons often become meaningful later.He warns against obsessing over the next assignment so much that you miss the value of the current one.He closes with a practical writing challenge: take five minutes, date the entry, write what you feel, what you’re praying about, and what you’re hoping happens next.He emphasizes that your current chapter is not your whole story.Timestamps00:00 - Permission to skip this chapter if you need to 03:06 - Serving second does not mean pretending 04:15 - Serve anyway and write the season down 05:44 - Why decades of journals became valuable 08:33 - Be honest on the page about anger, jealousy, and disappointment 11:04 - Journals should also record victories and unexpected wins 12:02 - Why pain is easier to remember than progress 14:01 - A 2003 journal entry about marriage and “He’s Preparing Me” 16:31 - Looking back, what felt random was actually guidance 17:48 - The younger you can only see one day at a time 19:15 - A chapter is not the whole story 20:04 - Being pushed out can develop hidden gifts 21:22 - Don’t get so focused on your next assignment that you miss this one 22:48 - Four things journaling reveals: patterns, progress, providence, perspective 24:03 - When repeated frustration points to something deeper 25:23 - Slow growth, real receipts, and visible maturity 26:40 - Seeing God’s fingerprints in old entries 27:53 - How the podcast began in a season of frustration 29:42 - What God planted in pain becomes clear later 30:19 - Why perspective shrinks huge moments down to size 31:44 - Living in the middle of a journal entry 33:23 - Serve anyway, even if you believe you should be leading 34:34 - Don’t let disappointment in your position neglect your assignment 35:47 - Not every hard journal entry ends happily, but growth is still real 37:57 - Journaling as proof that you are still moving 39:12 - The writing challenge: date it, name it, write it 40:35 - Live, serve, work, and love your people while you journal 42:03 - Why the podcast exists: years of honest writing 42:30 - Detour, rejection, and waiting can all be development 46:40 - Five minutes to write where you are right now 48:27 - Final charge: serve anyway, write your journey, trust GodACTION ITEMSTake five minutes today and write where you are right now.Date the entry and include the time.Write honestly about what hurt, what you feared, and what you are praying for.Record wins, breakthroughs, unexpected calls, and signs of progress too.If needed, use a notebook, binder, or notes app, but get it written down.Share the episode with someone who is struggling in a current season of service.